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PRESIDENT'S MEMO
Our April Social was enjoyed by all of our members who attended.
Our guest speaker was Mayor Oberndorf who brought us up to date on the
direction of Virginia Beach for the next few years. The speech was
well received by the members in attendance. We encourage all members
to attend the next function on 11 June to be held at the Holiday Inn Executive
Center for a prospective on Iraq from someone who has been there.
Our Chapter and Major Clifton Furedy, USAF Ret., our Web Master was
presented an award from National MOAA by BG Wes Edwards, President of the
Virginia Council of Chapters. The award was for the outstanding Web
Site for our size chapter. Our congratulations to Clif for all of
his work on establishing and updating our Web Site.
Congress directed the DOD to establish a Uniform Formulary (UF) process
which creates a new third-tier co-pay of $22 per prescription, in both
mail order and retail pharmacy services, for medications that are designated
"non-formulary". The UF also creates a new DOD Pharmacy & Therapeutics
(P&T) Committee (to make recommendations regarding which medications
will be available at the third tier co-pay); and a new Beneficiary Advisory
Panel (to review the Committee's recommendations).
The pharmacy benefit will continue to include all Food and Drug Administration
approved pharmaceutical agents that require an authorized provider's prescription,
unless otherwise excluded from TRICARE pharmacy benefit coverage by law.
It will also continue the current tiers of $3 for generic medications and
$9 for brand name medications. There will be no drugs in the third ($22)
tier until the appropriate committees have met to evaluate drugs in accordance
with the Uniform Formulary Rule and the final approval has been made.
For further details see
http://www.tricare.osd.mil/news/2004/news0411.cfm
Beginning Jun 1, 2004, the TRICARE Retail Pharmacy program will be run
by Express Scripts Inc. Beneficiaries and caregivers are encouraged
to close out outstanding paper claims from medications obtained prior to
Jun 1, 2004. Paper claims resulting from the use of non-network pharmacies
or submitted for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses not covered by
other health insurance, should be submitted to the current claims processor
of your Regional Managed Care support contractor until Aug 31, 2004.
After that date, Express Scripts Inc. will be responsible for any outstanding
claims.
Again we would like to encourage any member, who is interested in becoming
actively involved in MOAA operations, to attend our Board meetings, normally
held on the 1st Saturday of every month at the NS Little Creek Amphibious
Base Golf Course clubhouse. The meetings start at 0830. The
next Board meeting will be held on 5 June.
We're Rolling,
John
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Photos from April 2004 Social
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| Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf was the April Guest
of Honor and spoke about her committment to the military in the city and
in particular, NAS Oceana. She also listed many positive ways Virginia
Beach uses their limited funds to make the city clean and safe. |
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| The President of the Virginia Council of Chapters, BGen Wes EdwardsUSMC
Ret.(on right), presents the National MOAA Communications award for
the best Web Site to Maj Clifton Furedy, USAF Ret. the Webmaster
for our Chapter. |
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2004 CHAPTER SCHEDULE
For the most current and up-to-date schedule of chapter events, click
on Calendar
of Events
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
To protect member privacy,
New Members and Directory Changes
are only available through the Members Access page.
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HRCMOAA MEMBERSHIP
(As of 24 May 2004)
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Previous |
Change |
Present |
| Regular |
783 |
-89 |
694 |
| Auxiliary |
171 |
-35 |
136 |
| Honorary |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| Totals |
957 |
-124 |
833 |
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VCOC LEGISLATIVE NEWS
In Virginia, the budget impasse was resolved
and the budget is in the hands of the Governor, who will review it
and return it to the General Assembly with his comments and recommendations.
Current thinking is that none of the Veterans issues and the active
duty subsidy will be affected.
The budget provides for several Veterans-related
Initiatives that were objectives of the MOAA Virginia Council of Chapters.
Funding has been restored to the Department of Veterans Services to support
the restoration of four field representative positions and support the
staffing the new Albert Horton Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Suffolk.
Some funding also went toward planning for two additional Veterans Care
Centers in Northern VA and Tidewater, and the operation of the Virginia
War Memorial. The State met its funding obligation for the National World
War II memorial in Washington, DC.
Regrettably, as part of the revenue bill
that supported the budget, tax increases and tax offsets
included: (1) the elimination of the $6,000 deduction for retirees
62 to 64 [to be phased out over the next two years] and (2) the commencement
in 2006 of means testing for retirees 65 and older. The latter means that
those 65 or older as of 1 January 2006, will be grandfathered and continue
to receive the $12,000 deduction; however, those reaching 65 in 2006 will
have their deduction reduced by $1 for every $1 that the taxpayer's federal
adjusted gross income [less social security revenues] exceeds $50,000 for
singles and $75,000 for married taxpayers.
Active duty military stationed in Virginia
(including those deployed) with out-of-state dependents will benefit from
reinstatement of in-state tuition rates. This is guaranteed for only one
year from the actual reporting date shown on military orders, allowing
out-of-state dependents time to apply for Virginia residency so that they
could continue eligibility for in-state tuition.
License renewals are extended for 60 days after return by deployed
active duty personnel. This bill has been signed into law by the Governor. |
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COMMUNITY AFFAIRS CHATTER
Did you know that MOAA provides a Leadership
award to one Cadet or Midshipman from each College ROTC/NROTC or High School
NJROTC? The Hampton Roads chapter will present awards to three local
colleges and ten local high schools by the end of the academic year.
As of 27 April, the awardees are:
ROTC/NROTC
Old Dominion ROTC: Cadet Megan L. Marshburn
Norfolk State/Old Dominion NROTC: Midshipman Amanda Leugers
Norfolk State ROTC: Cadet Timothy Sechrist
NJROTC
Princess Anne H.S.: Cadet Ltjg Chris Brown
Salem H.S.: Cadet William Everett
First Colonial H.S.: Cadet CPO Alex Hill
There are plenty of opportunities to participate
in the awards program. The ceremonies are held at various times of
the day, so there are ample opportunities for everyone to help out the
chapter.
If you would be interested in assisting in
this worthwhile effort, please contact the Community Affairs Chairman,
CAPT
Tim Stark at 467-2899 or by email at: vabchstarks1@juno.com. |
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LANDRIEU TO OFFER SBP AMENDMENT
In yesterday's Special Update (http://www.moaa.org/Legislative/SpecialAlert.asp),
we reported on the tremendous progress made during the House Armed Services
Committee deliberations on the FY2005 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R.
4200). Next week it's the Senate's turn, and Senate SBP champion
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) intends to push for inclusion of a similar provision
in the Senate bill (S. 2400). The bill reported out by the Senate
Armed Services Committee last week proposed no changes to SBP. But Sen.
Landrieu will have the opportunity to present a floor amendment to phase
out the age-62 annuity reduction. Details of her proposal are still being
worked out, but her staff expects that it will be similar to the measure
the House Committee approved Wednesday night. With 55 senators on
record as co-sponsors of various bills to eliminate the SBP annuity reduction,
we believe the Senate will be reluctant to do less for military widows
than the House...especially as we approach Memorial Day. But we need an
avalanche of grassroots inputs between now and next Wednesday to remind
senators that this is an important issue, and that there's no reason for
further delay.
Please use MOAA's
Action Alert:
Click
Here to urge your senator to vote for Sen. Landrieu's
SBP amendment. We hope you'll also follow that up with phone calls to your
two senators' offices by using MOAA's toll-free hot line to Capitol Hill
(1-877-762-8762). Just ask the Capitol operator to connect you to your
senator's office and tell the staffer you want your senator to vote for
Sen. Landrieu's SBP amendment to the Defense Authorization bill (S. 2400).
MOAA Legislative Update May 17, 2004
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OPERATION: HELPING HAND
The American people have always come together
in times of crisis to assist each other in any way possible, whether to
give blood or feed and clothe the victims of disaster, or offer some other
means of support.
The United States Armed Services have deployed
hundreds of thousands of men and women across our nation and around the
world for many years. However, since September 11, 2001 these deployments
have involved larger numbers of personnel and have required a more rapid
response by our troops. These soldiers, sailors, marines and
airmen sacrifice their own safety and security to protect the freedoms
that we all cherish.
Unfortunately, for many of these men and women,
deployment from home often means accumulated debts due to loss of normal
income, extraordinary expenses arising from family emergencies, family
relocation costs and sometimes the financial crisis faced by widows, widowers
and orphans
For over half a century, the Armed Services
Relief Agencies have answered the needs of our military personnel with
emergency funds and family assistance programs in peacetime or war.
Your support is needed now to assure that our
active duty personnel, reservists and their families get the help they
need. |
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